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Tag Archives: games

I’ve been in love with Animal Crossing ever since I first played Wild World nearly 10 years ago. The gameplay is simple, and some would even argue repetitive, but there’s a charm about the games that taught me patience and money management skill I still use today.

I’ll admit that I was probably among the first people to cry out against a ‘pay-to-win’ mobile variant of one of my favourite games of all time, but it’s surprisingly not bad. Even with the addition of ‘Leaf Tickets’ in Pocket Camp, it doesn’t feel like the game is a freemium cash grab, but a genuine installment in the series that just so happens to be free and on mobile. Sure, the whole thing where you have to move around all your furniture just to invite one animal over is slightly more annoying than I think was intended, but at least I haven’t been in a frustrating position that can only be resolved with spending some of my IRL cash.

Despite the final game’s dismissal of my original skepticism, I only played it for about 4 hours when it came out and I haven’t touched it since.

So, then, why aren’t I enjoying it? What do I like about Animal Crossing that Pocket Camp has failed to capture? What do I even like about Animal Crossing?

To be honest, these feel like harder questions than the meaning of life…

Is there anyone out there who’s actually been enjoying this game?

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My MacBook Air has served me well these last three years but considering the directions my interests have been headed this past year (mainly towards coding and PC gaming), I discovered that there’s only so much you can do with when it only has the about same amount of RAM as my phone and refuses to run Windows. I finally decided that it was about time for an upgrade around Christmas when it attempted to give up the ghost along with my history coursework.

With the specs I needed in mind, I appeared to be left with only two options: compromise with some of specifications to fit within my budget, or spend nearly £2000 to get what I wanted. Not particularly interested in doing either, I chose a third option: building my own.

The concept me of buying each individual part and then assembling them into a working unit that allowed you to even at least use Word, let alone run a demanding game like Civilization 6, seemed ridiculous to everyone apart from me (who had been blinded by the potential monetary savings). To be fair, at the time I didn’t even know what a CPU looked like, let alone how to install it in a motherboard…

Like this:

2016 was a great year for gaming with plenty of new faces, highly anticipated sequels and one or two we thought would never leave development (*cough* Final Fantasy XV *cough*). The ever-increasing backlog of titles I need to play at some point brought me to remember a certain “game” that was making the headlines around this time 10 years ago…

That being Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

It may be hard to believe if you don’t remember the hype around the game’s release, but Sonic ‘06 could have actually been a good game. I mean, we all thought it would be.

In the initial stages of development there was no sign of any possible complications in the otherwise, rather ambitious project and the 2005 E3 technical demonstration (see here), still looks pretty impressive by today’s standards, so where did it all go wrong?

I would say that the real story probably starts with the moment Sonic Team received the developer’s kit for what was then known as the Nintendo ‘Revolution’…

The First of Many Problems

Assuming that Nintendo’s new console would have similar specs to the other consoles, just like in the previous generation, SEGA had already agreed to release one of the first third party titles on it, thinking they would be able to easily port the game once they completed the version for Playstation 3.

So this stick you wave around is the controller…?

However, when Director Yojiro Ogawa saw the Wii Remote and significantly less powerful graphics chip, he realised that releasing a version for the Wii would not be quite as easy as he originally thought. So what did he do? He snatched half the team to work exclusively on the Wii version, leaving Chief Game Designer Shun Nakamura in charge of the game’s direction.

Dropping like flies

We already know that ’06 was never released on the Wii. Not long after he split the team, Ogawa decided that a port wasn’t even worth trying. But they still needed a game for Nintendo’s console, and so, the solution Ogawa came up with was to take his half of the team and leave the project altogether in order to create Sonic and the Secret Rings.

So now the project had only part of a team, no director and the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) rapidly approaching for what was already an ambitious game on unfamiliar consoles.

They did make a playable demo (see here) in time for TGS and even included noticeable improvements from the previous tech demo shown at 2005’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), like better camera controls, fixed issues with the boost pads and the homing attack and even a dynamic day-to-night cycle.

It was pretty clear that, despite all the shuffling around, the team still knew what they were doing.

But the worst was yet to come.

Around the time of the game’s official announcement in October 2005, Producer Yuji Naka left SEGA (along with several members of the Sonic ‘06 team) to create his own studio.

So they now had an even smaller team, no director, no producer and E3 to worry about.

The E3 Façade

Ah, the days when E3 was actually a huge event anyone could get a ticket for…

With their 2006 E3 presentation requiring a story-based trailer (as well as another playable demo), English dubbing began. There was just one “small” problem: The script wasn’t finished.

Due to the looming deadline and shortage of staff, the team had already cut out various features like the hub areas and changed the story considerably but that meant that the script, which was yet to be completed, didn’t even make sense in context in some places and on top of that, they were still changing the names of various things, particularly the Sceptre of Darkness, even after they had started recording.To give you an idea of how last minute these changes were, the latest revisions made to the leaked copy of the game’s script were dated 10th March 2006, less than eight months before its release, and even that version doesn’t match the final game word for word, so we have no idea when it was actually completed.

This is probably what led to the confusing almost non-existent plot and weird things like the reference to “The Book of Darkness”(see clip here).

Just wave and smile at the fans and no one will notice…

They did finish a demo in time for E3 where one could play part of Sonic or Silver’s story (see here) but it appears that this was done by removing the improvements shown in the TGS demo. Regardless, no one seemed to notice and, despite it being very unpolished and a bit confusing for the player, the game was met by a very hopeful response. They also released a story based trailer (see here) along with it, which, as I remember, received a great amount of hype.

However, I think this is the moment the team realised that it would be impossible to finish the game in time. They only had about 5 months and limited resources to, not only finish the game but iron out all the problems that the E3 demo was clearly riddled with. That would definitely be an infeasible task .

Not like SEGA cared.

You can’t keep Microsoft Santa waiting!

SEGA had already signed a deal with Microsoft and, although we’re not entirely sure of its contents, it probably included a promise to release the game on Xbox 360 in time for the Christmas of 2006 in return for a ridiculous amount of promotion (or something like that).

Either way, any chance of delay was impossible. At this point their top priority became salvaging whatever they could in order to release at least something.

The tile screen for the Xbox Live demo

Nothing new was shown until September at Microsoft’s X06 event, where they released a new demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace (see here). The improvements from 2005’s TGS demo (apart from the day-to-night cycle) were back and all the problems in the E3 demo seem to have been solved and so the hype increased for the what had been dubbed the must-have game of the holiday season.

And then release day arrived.

The Result

The biggest game of the year turned into one of the worst games ever released by a AAA publisher almost overnight.

Fans felt angry, frustrated and betrayed. It was glitch-ridden to the point that many parts became unplayable and even the highly acclaimed soundtrack couldn’t make up for the surplus of game-breaking flaws. It was as if any sign of progress shown in the Xbox Live demo had just been an illusion, a figment of the player’s imagination.

It’s a long way to fall back to earth…

In fact, all the improvement were only ever made to the demo itself. The team had prioritised making it look like the game, which was anywhere but complete, was ready to be sold. By the end of development, the production team had completely ignored the Quality Assurance Tester bug reports, just to make sure they managed to complete it in time for a Christmas release, something we all know shows quite clearly in the final release.

How did this happen?

The question most people ask is “Who’s to blame?” and that was actually something I wanted to try and answer when I originally started researching this, but ultimately there isn’t any one party more at fault than the others.

It’s easy to look back and point the finger at whoever you believe to be most despicable, however, the whole incident ultimately comes down to a series of false assumptions, miscommunication and unrealistic expectations. Perhaps the game would have been properly finished if they could have delayed it’s release for another six months, or if the team’s size wasn’t ever decreasing and the management wasn’t being shuffled around, or if the game was less ambitious, or if…I could go on, but we can only hope this story doesn’t ever repeat itself…

I did originally say in my post about the reveal trailer that I wouldn’t talk about the Switch again until release day (which we now know to be 3rd March 2017 worldwide) but there’s a lot to take in and talk about from their hour-long presentation this morning(and all the other information outlets that are buzzing today).

Nintendo have chosen to describe the Switch as “a home console gaming system that allows you to change your play style” and with three ‘modes’ plus the multiplayer mode they’ve dubbed “sharing the joy”, that’s quite hard to argue with.

A visual demonstration of how to “share the joy”.

I’m quite curious about the details of this paid online service that was mentioned but if it includes free games every month at a reasonable price like PlayStation Plus, then I would gladly pay (if I end up buying the console).

They also claim that the Switch has inherited the best parts of its predecessors, (including both home and handheld consoles), however, the meagre 2.5-6 hour battery life doesn’t really make it look like that…until you find out that it’s the same battery life Nintendo currently claims on the 3DS. If those 6 hours are able to last just as ridiculously long as the 3DS in standby mode, that’ll be good enough for me.

The stuff that comes in the box from left right: The Switch itself, the Joy-Cons (in a choice of either ‘neon red’ and ‘neon blue’ or grey), the Switch Port, The Joy-Con Grip, Joy-Con Straps, AC Adapter, HDMI cable

The other specs are kind of boring (to me at least), apart from the so called “HD Rumble”. I don’t know when I’d want to feel the sensation of a glass being filled with iced water, but there’s probably some developer out there who’s going to use it to make some super-high-tech game mechanic with it. The Joy-Cons (the controller thingies) have these motion cameras that can detect things rock paper scissors, but again, I’m not sure how that can be used. It’s still pretty cool.

The extra touches of the screen capture button, a microSD card slot, a USB-C charger and even the removal of region lock (I never thought I’d hear those words from Nintendo), make it all the more desirable.

The two new games they introduced are particularly interesting.

The intention of 1-2 Switch (trailer), their launch day party game is to use the screen as little as possible to make you look at the other players (whom I think they are assuming would be your friends…).

And ARMS (trailer) is a fighting game (which I think will be like online-tournament type fights) where you use extendable boxing gloves. The whole thing is controlled by using the acelorometers and gyroscopes in the Joy-Cons (you’re supposed to hold them in your hands) so I wonder how many calories it will help you burn…

Apparently there are “over 80 games currently in development” so hopefully they’ll have a strong game library within a year, but right now, the launch day selection is looking a boring…

Which brings me on to the issues I have.

Weak Launch Line-up

With the exceptions of 1-2 Switch and the new Legend of Zelda game, pretty much all the games I’m interested in (Disgaea 5, I am Setsuna, Skyrim, etc.) I already own on other consoles. A weak launch day line-up is a mistake they made with the 3DS and the WiiU to have not learnt by now that it kind of matters what the launch-day titles are (Legend of Zelda is not the only thing fans care about…).

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!

Sure, they have some pretty exciting games coming out only a few months later, like Splatoon 2, Fire Emblem Warriors and Super Mario Odyssey, but I’m not paying £60 for a single game when the console itself already costs £280!

The evidence, in case you didn’t believe me.

I’ve always thought WiiU games to be a bit pricey at around £40 and £50 is pushing for a Day One Edition that comes with special features, but £60 for a standard copy? That’s just too much.

I thought Nintendo were trying to make the Switch accessible to all. Sure, the premium WiiU bundle was the same price, but at least it came with a game to begin with. It might be a bit cheaper than what the PS4 and Xbox One were at launch but that still doesn’t explain the price of the games.

My Verdict

No matter how cool and snazzy Nintendo’s magic tricks are I won’t let them blind me again.

I’ll only buy the Switch if, and ONLY if, there is a price drop on the console and games in the first six months and some more interesting games (that I can’t play on PlayStation) come out.

Not too long ago today, Nintendo finally revealed their “NX” project in a video on Youtube and the Nintendo Switch, as they’ve named it, seems much less cumbersome than the rumours made it out to be.

When I saw the design I immediately thought it’s just a new version of the WiiU but honestly I think that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. I think their main focus was to create the flexible console that the WiiU should have been. The Switch lets you pick up from exactly where you left off anywhere you want, something many (myself included) thought you should have been able to do with the WiiU, given the sheer size and weight of the gamepad.

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It’s a pretty cool idea that you can detach the controller parts from the handheld screen and connect them to an accessory, just hold them on their own or even hand one to a friend for multiplayer mode. And kudos for adding the kickstand.

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One worry I do have is the size. I don’t know the exact dimensions but it looks huge. It’s probably at least the size of a 7″ tablet so it will probably weigh quite a bit more than a 3DS and maybe even an iPad unless they’re planning on compromising the battery life, like they did with the gamepad’s measly 2 hours (or in the case of mine, 20 minutes). To be honest, I don’t really mind as long as it’s somewhere close to the 3DS’s 5 hours of continuous gameplay (or pretty much eternal standby mode).

Another worry, which is still size related is the power. Judging from what we’ve seen, the same item that houses the portable screen is essentially the entirety of the console itself. That’s slightly worrying when we’ve seen that it appears to be fully capable of running Skyrim. In order for it to run something like that, we’d probably be looking at at least 4-8GB RAM and I’m no tech expert but my 3GB RAM (fanless) phone does get pretty toasty sometimes… Baring in mind it’s already probably in the range of around 1lb already, adding fans will just make it even heavier.

It seems like a pretty cool system but ultimately I’l have to wait and see what games (other than Just Dance 2017) will be available at launch before I commit myself to spending whatever they plan on selling it for. So, I guess I won’t be talking about this again until it comes out in March…

As the long-awaited release of Final Fantasy VX draws closer, the guys at Square Enix decided to further whet our appetites with a couple treats, one of which would be the movie Kingsglaive.

As with anything to do with Final Fantasy, the plot is rather confusing (which probably has something to do with why it only got 7% positive review on Rotten Tomatoes). In short, the film partially explains why everyone’s fighting each other prior to the beginning of the game. In terms of story timeline, you can place Kingslaive right before Episode Duscae (quite weirdly). It’s pretty much a must see if you’re planning on playing the game since it also gives a much better idea of the kind of world the game is set in, compared to the trailers and demos.

If you thought the graphics for the game looked great, then the film is on a whole other level.

Anyone who’s seen Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will know to expect the beautifully crafted fight scenes that leave the audience wishing they were cool enough to drive a car down the sides of buildings or use magic to summon hundreds of swords at once.

You may notice the odd bit of product placement from Beats, Audi and a few others but personally I think it’s use has made the world more real and genuine compared to using only fictional brands with names that sound like they were created by a 3 year old.

I’ve already mentioned how beautiful it looks but the music is equally as beautiful, which is to be expected of anything Yoko Shimomura works on.

The characters themselves were well written and you were kind of forced to care about them (if that makes sense).

Despite all of this, I have to admit that I did try to check how much time was left around the 90 minute mark because I felt like it was supposed to have ended by that point.

Overall I really enjoyed the film and I think it’s made me even more excited for the game’s (delayed) release. It’s not perfect but still a great film, definitely deserving of at least a 7 out of 10 (if you’re okay with complex plots).